Collins Dauda

Alhaji Collins Dauda is a Ghanaian teacher, politician and former minister born on 13 February 1957 in Mehame in the Ahafo Region, who serves as the Member of Parliament for the Asutifi South constituency. One of Ghana's most experienced parliamentarians, with a connection to his constituency stretching back to the earliest years of the Fourth Republic, he was among the founders of Asutifi South's parliamentary representation and has served across multiple ministerial portfolios in NDC governments.

Education and teaching career

He attended Mim Senior High School, where he completed both the GCE Ordinary Level and the GCE Advanced Level between 1973 and 1981. He built his early career in education, joining the staff of Kukuom Agricultural Senior High School as a teacher in 1985, a role that connected his professional life to the agricultural communities of the Ahafo Region that he has since represented politically across several decades. His identity as a teacher and community educator has informed both his advocacy for educational investment in the constituency and his broader development philosophy.

Political career

Dauda was a member of the Asutifi District Assembly between 1978 and 1981, giving him an early foothold in local governance before the advent of multiparty democracy. He was a member of the Consultative Assembly convened in 1991 and 1992 that drafted the constitution under which Ghana's Fourth Republic was established, a direct involvement in the constitutional design of the democratic order he has served across more than three decades of parliamentary life. He was first elected Member of Parliament for Asutifi South in the inaugural 1992 parliamentary election on the NDC ticket, becoming the constituency's first representative in the Fourth Republic. He won re-election in 1996, then lost the seat in the 2000 election before regaining it in 2004, subsequently retaining it through the 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections.

Ministerial service

Dauda has served as Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and as Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing in NDC governments, portfolio appointments that gave him executive responsibility for two of Ghana's most critical natural resource and infrastructure ministries. His Lands and Natural Resources tenure placed him in charge of Ghana's forestry, mining and land administration system during periods of significant pressure on the country's natural resources.

Political Legacy

Collins Dauda is among the longest-serving active parliamentarians in Ghana, with a parliamentary career bookended by the drafting of the 1992 constitution and continuous representation of Asutifi South through a generation of democratic politics. His ministerial service and constitutional involvement give him a unique depth of institutional experience.